The most urbanized countries. Urban population: increasing role

The twenty-first century is the century of urbanization, when there is a rapid change not only in the person himself, but also in the system of values, norms of behavior, and intellect. This phenomenon covers the social and demographic structure of the population, its way of life, and culture. It is not difficult to understand what urbanization is; it is important to know what consequences it brings.

Urbanization - what is it?

Urbanization is the increase in urban settlements and the spread of the urban lifestyle to the entire part of the settlements. Urbanization is a multilateral process, which is based on historically established forms of social and territorial division of labor. Urbanization means the growth of large cities, an increase in the urban population in the country. This concentration is closely related to false urbanization.

IN different countries The increase in settlements occurs with different dynamics, so all countries of the world are conventionally divided into three groups:

• high level of urbanization – 73%;
• average – more than 32%;
• low – less than 32%.

According to this division, Canada is ranked in the fourth ten in terms of urbanization level, here its level is more than 80%. In Russia the level is 73%, although the increase in settlements is not always associated with positive aspects. In our country, this level arose due to significant contradictions:

• the inability of host cities to adequately address the issue of migration;
• difficult economic situation;
• instability in the political sphere;
• inequalities in regional development, when residents from villages tend to move to megacities.

False urbanization

False urbanization is the rapid growth of population, while this phenomenon is not accompanied by a sufficient increase in the number of jobs, so crowds of unemployed people appear, and the lack of housing leads to the appearance of undeveloped urban outskirts, where unsanitary conditions reign. This phenomenon often affects countries in Africa and Latin America, where, along with a high concentration of population, the standard of living is low everywhere. Increased social tension increases the growth of crime.

Causes of urbanization

Global urbanization has led to the fact that the rural population from nearby villages and small towns is increasingly turning to large cities for everyday or cultural issues. There are the following reasons for urbanization at present:

1. Development industrial production in large cities.
2. Excess labor force.
3. More favorable conditions residence in big cities compared to rural ones.
4. Formation of wide suburban areas.

Pros and cons of urbanization

The quality of urban life has a direct connection with how justified the level of increase in settlements is, the positive and negative aspects of urbanization. If this level rises sharply, the quality of city life drops significantly, and jobs disappear in the city. Therefore here important place are occupied by the city's infrastructure and the level of trade, the income level of city residents, and their security. Also another factor of city life is environmental safety and its level.

To understand what urbanization is, you need to look at its positive and negative sides. For example, Russia is currently going through a difficult transition period, when irreversible processes are taking place in the villages. Only with the help of a certain state policy and a balanced settlement of people in cities is it possible to preserve national traditions and culture.

Pros of urbanization

Most of population live in big cities and the reason for this was positive sides urbanization:

• Increased labor productivity;
• Creating places for scientific research and rest;
• Qualified medical care;
• Sanitary and hygienic conditions.

Disadvantages of urbanization

Today, settlements have begun to increase sharply. This process is accompanied by an increase major cities, pollution environment, deterioration of living conditions in the regions. The atmosphere of large cities contains higher concentrations of toxic substances compared to rural areas. All this caused the negative aspects of urbanization and led to:

• imbalance in the distribution of population in the territory;
• the absorption by large cities of the most fertile and productive areas of the planet;
• environmental violation;
• noise pollution;
• transport problems;
• compaction of buildings;
• reducing the birth rate;
• rising unemployment.

Urbanization and its consequences

Due to the fact that most rural residents moved to big cities, agriculture ceased to satisfy all the needs of the population. And in order to increase soil productivity, production began to use artificial fertilizers. This irrational approach led to the soil being oversaturated with compounds heavy metals. In the twentieth century, the population lost stability in the process of growth. The impact of urbanization has led to large-scale development of energy, industry and Agriculture.

Environmental consequences of urbanization

Urbanization is considered the main factor of environmental pollution; residents of large cities call them smomopolises; they pollute the atmosphere by 75%. Scientists have researched chemical influence urbanization to nature and found that the trail of polluting effects from large cities can be traced at a distance of fifty kilometers. The lack of necessary funds serves as a serious obstacle to improving the urban environment, the transition to low-waste technologies, and the construction of processing plants.

The car is the biggest source of air pollution. The main harm comes from carbon monoxide In addition, people feel the negative effects of carbohydrates, nitrogen oxides, and photochemical oxidizers. An urbanized person is daily exposed to oxygen deficiency, irritation of the mucous membranes, deep parts of the respiratory tract, which can result in pulmonary edema, colds, bronchitis, lung cancer, coronary disease, and congenital defects.

Impact of urbanization on the biosphere

The growth of urban settlements has a negative impact on the biosphere, and this impact increases from year to year. Traffic fumes Vehicle, emissions industrial enterprises, heat and power plants - all these are consequences of urbanization, which is why nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, ozone, saturated hydrocarbons, benzopyrene, and dust enter the atmosphere. Large cities around the world have already stopped paying attention to smog. Not many people fully understand what urbanization is and the dangers it poses. If city streets were greened, the negative impact on the biosphere would be reduced.

As technospherization increases, the natural foundations of the biosphere, which is responsible for the reproduction and spread of life on Earth, are being removed. At the same time, as humanity gradually moves to technogenesis, the biosphere biological substance is significantly transformed, which negatively affects the organisms formed from it. Artificially created technosphere-biological components can independently evolve and cannot be removed from the natural environment.

Impact of urbanization on public health

By creating an urban system, people create an artificial environment around themselves that increases the comfort of life. But this takes people away from their natural environment and violates natural ecosystems. Negative influence urbanization on human health is manifested by the fact that it decreases physical activity, nutrition becomes irrational, low-quality products lead to obesity and diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases develop. The urban environment negatively affects the physical and psychosomatic health of people.

Most Urbanized Countries

In ancient times, the most urbanized city was Jericho, where approximately two thousand people lived nine thousand years ago. Today, such a number can be attributed to a large village or small town. If we reduce the number of people living in the ten most populated cities on the planet to one whole, the amount will be almost two hundred and sixty million people, which is 4% of the total population of the planet.

Today, more than half the world's population lives in cities.
By 2030, the proportion of urban residents is projected to reach 60%.
Read about this in the material.

Before the Industrial Revolution, the farming sector was not productive enough to support large urban economies. And although we know the history of Rome, Istanbul, London and Kyiv and many other ancient cities, the share of the urban population was less than 10% of the world's population. The vast majority of people before the industrial revolution were employed in small peasant farms.

The Industrial Revolution and enormous advances in agricultural production were made possible by scientific advances. High yielding seed varieties have given us " green revolution" Chemical fertilizers have increased agricultural productivity. Machines, tractors, and combines allowed the farmer to cultivate a vast territory alone, while previously peasants with hoes cultivated small patches of land. Now we need fewer and fewer human resources to feed a family, region, or country. Most of our economic activity concentrated in industry, construction and services. And since the industrial part of the economy has increased, the level of urbanization is also increasing.

Level of urbanization and income per person

An interesting relationship is between the amount of goods per person and the level of urbanization of the country - the lower the per capita income, the lower this level.
By clicking on the picture, marking the countries of interest on the right and clicking on PLAY at the bottom left, you can see how the level of urbanization and income has changed over the past 50 years

Source: gapminder.org

Proportion of countries' population urbanized, 1950–2050

Source: World Urbanization Prospects, 2014

The information age has made people more aware. This makes it easier for people to organize to overthrow dictatorships. Which in turn often allows governments to introduce stricter rules and crack down on their own citizens. The result is instability and unsustainability in cities, says UN Secretary-General's Adviser on Sustainable Development Jeffrey Sachs.

The theme of sustainable development of cities, safe, provided with water, food, successfully managing waste, able to withstand various kinds cataclysms has become relevant. Cities are places of rapid population growth and gross inequality. An example of neighboring wealth and poverty is the favelas of Rio.

Favelas. Slums of Rio de Janeiro. False urbanization

Urban to rural population ratio around the world

Source: World Urbanization Prospects The 2014 Revision

Note: You can see when similar curves intersect for a particular country on the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs page

By 2030, about 60% of the world's population will live in cities. The UN Population Division estimates that by 2050, 67% of the world's population will live in urban areas. In other words, all of the expected population growth - from 7.3 billion to 8, 9 and 10 billion - will be associated with a growing urban population and a stable or even slightly declining rural population.

Poor countries tend to grow faster than rich countries, and they also urbanize at a faster rate. The long history of rural societies in Asia and Africa has now become the history of two rapidly urbanizing regions of the world.

Levels of urbanization by region (1950, 2011, 2050)

Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. 2012. "World Urbanization Prospects: The 2011 Revision."

Let's look at the share of the world population in different regions. In 1950, 38% of the world's urban population lived in Europe. There were many imperial powers here, dominating the rest of the largely agricultural world. Together with North America, these two regions accounted for 53% of the world's urban population. Let's look at the forecast for 2050. Significant urbanization awaits Asia and Africa. European cities will account for only 9% of the world's urban population; North America's share will be 6%. The era in which European and North American cities were dominant is coming to an end, says Jeffrey Sachs. This is also confirmed by the dynamics of the world's largest cities. If you look at which metropolitan areas (these are not necessarily single legal entities, but concentrated areas that can include multiple political jurisdictions) the population will be 10 million or more.

Urban agglomerations will grow

The number of megacities is growing sharply, and, as a rule, cities with more than 10 million inhabitants grow in developing countries. Back in 1950, there were only two mega-cities: Tokyo and New York. In 1990, there were 10 mega-cities:

• Tokyo
• Mexico City
• San Paolo
• Mumbai
• Osaka
• NY
• Buenos Aires
• Calcutta
• Los Angeles

four of them (Tokyo, New York, Osaka and Los Angeles) are in high-income countries.

Megacities in 1990

First line – rapid growth of urban populations, especially in less developed countries.

In 1900, about 14% of the world's population lived in cities, in 1905. – 29%, and in 1990 – 45%. On average, the urban population increases by about 50 million people every year. By 2000 According to demographers' forecasts, the share of city residents may exceed 50%.

Second feature – population and economy mainly in large cities. This is explained primarily by the nature of production, the complexity of its connections with science and education. In addition, large cities usually better satisfy people's spiritual needs, better provide an abundance and variety of goods and services, and access to information repositories.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 360 ​​large cities in the world, in which only 5% of the total population lived. At the end of the 80s there were already 2.5 thousand such cities, and their share in the world population exceeded 1/3. By the beginning of the 21st century, the number of large cities will reach 4 thousand.

Among large cities, it is customary to highlight Largest cities millionaires with a population of over 1 million inhabitants. Historically, the first city was Rome during the time of Julius Caesar.

At the beginning of the 20th century there were only 10 of them, in the early 80s. - more than 200, and by the end of the century their number will apparently exceed 400. In Russia in 1992. there were 13 such cities. More than 30 “super cities” in the world already have over 5 million inhabitants each.

Third trait – “recognition” of the city, expansion of their territories. Modern urbanization is especially characterized by the transition from a compact city to urban agglomerations - territorial groupings of urban and rural settlements. The cores of the largest urban agglomerations most often become capitals, the most important industrial and port centers.

The largest urban agglomerations have developed around Mexico City, Tokyo, Sao Paulo and New York: 16-20 million people live in them. In Russia, of several dozen large agglomerations, the largest is Moscow with a population of 13.5 million people; it includes about 100 urban and several thousand rural settlements.

According to available forecasts, by the end of the 20th century the number of largest agglomerations will increase significantly.

Many of them are being transformed into even larger formations - urban areas and zones.

4. Levels and rates of urbanization.

Despite the presence of common features of urbanization as a worldwide process in different countries and regions, it has its own characteristics, which, first of all, are expressed in different levels and rates of urbanization.

By level of urbanization All countries of the world can be divided into 3 large groups. But major differences can be observed between more and less developed countries. In the early 90s in developed countries, the urbanization rate averaged 72%, and in developing countries - 33%.

Rate of urbanization largely depend on its level. In most economically developed countries that have reached high level urbanization, share of urban population in Lately is growing relatively slowly, and the number of residents in capitals and other largest cities, as a rule, is even decreasing. Many city dwellers now prefer to live not in the centers of large cities, but in the suburbs and rural areas. This is explained by the rising cost of engineering equipment, dilapidated infrastructure, the extreme complication of transport problems, and environmental pollution. But urbanization continues to develop in depth, acquiring new forms. In developing countries, where levels of urbanization are much lower, urbanization continues to expand and urban populations increase rapidly. Nowadays, they account for more than 4/5 of the total annual increase in the number of urban residents, and the absolute number of city dwellers has already far exceeded their number in economically developed countries. This phenomenon, called urban explosion in science, has become one of the the most important factors the entire socio-economic development of developing countries. However, urban population growth in these regions far outpaces their actual development. It occurs largely due to the constant “pushing” of the excess rural population into cities, especially large ones. At the same time, the poor population usually settles on the outskirts of large cities, where belts of poverty and slums arise. Complete, as they sometimes say, “slum urbanization” has become very big sizes. This is why a number of international documents speak of an urbanization crisis in developing countries. But it continues to remain largely spontaneous and disordered.

In economically developed countries, on the contrary, great efforts are being made to regulate and manage the urbanization process. In this work, which is often carried out by trial and error, along with government agencies, architects, demographers, geographers, economists, sociologists, and representatives of many other sciences participate. Modern processes of growth, composition and distribution of population raise many complex problems, some of which are worldwide in nature and some of which are specific to different types of countries. The most important of them are the continuing rapid growth of the world population, interethnic relations, and urbanization.

Almost all of the world's population problems are becoming more closely intertwined than ever before in the process of global urbanization. They appear in their most concentrated form in cities. The population and production itself are concentrated there - very often to the extreme. Urbanization is a complex, diverse process that affects all aspects of world life. Therefore, it is widely reflected in literature, primarily in economic and socio-geographical literature. Let us note only some of the features of world urbanization on the threshold of the third millennium. Urbanization still continues at a rapid pace in various forms in countries of different levels of development, in different conditions of each country, both in breadth and depth, at one speed or another.

The annual growth rate of urban residents is almost twice as high as the global population growth rate as a whole. In 1950, 28% of the world's population lived in cities, in 1997 - 45%. Cities of different ranks, significance and size with rapidly growing suburbs, agglomerations, and even more extensive urbanized areas practically cover the bulk of humanity with their influence. The most important role in this case, big cities play, especially millionaire cities. The latter numbered 116 in 1950; in 1996 there were already 230 of them. The urban lifestyle of the population, urban culture in the broadest sense of the word, is increasingly spreading in rural areas in most countries of the world. In developing countries, urbanization is mainly expanding as a result of the massive influx of migrants from rural areas and small towns to large cities. According to the UN, in 1995 the share of the urban population in developing countries as a whole was 38%, including 22% in the least developed countries. For Africa this figure was 34%, for Asia – 35%. But in Latin America, city dwellers now make up the majority of the population: 74%, including Venezuela - 93%, in Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Colombia and Peru - from 70% to 80% and etc. In only a few least developed countries (Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras) and in the small island countries of the Caribbean, less than half are urban residents - from 35% to 47%.

Indicators of a high level of urbanization are formally characteristic of relatively few, the most developed countries in Asia and Africa. However, in fact, both these and some other Asian countries have various features of long-standing, even ancient urbanization (China, India, countries of the Middle East, South-East Asia and etc.). A high proportion of city dwellers, in addition to urban countries (Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau), have similar settlement patterns in some Arab states, especially oil-producing ones: Kuwait (97%), Qatar (91%), UAE (84%), Jordan ( 72%). A very large proportion of city dwellers is also typical for the most developed countries in the far west of Asia: Israel (91%), Lebanon (87%), Turkey (69%).

In industrialized countries, urbanization in breadth has long since exhausted itself. In the 21st century, most of them are almost entirely urbanized. In Europe, city dwellers make up an average of 74% of the population, including in Western - 81%, in some countries - even more: in Belgium - 97%, the Netherlands and Great Britain - 90%, in Germany - 87%, although in some places it is noticeable less: in Austria, for example – 56%, in Switzerland – 61%. Urbanization is high in Northern Europe: on average, as well as in Denmark and Norway - 73%. It is noticeably less in the South and Eastern Europe, but, of course, with other indicators of urbanization, higher than in developing countries. In the USA and Canada, the share of the urban population reaches 80%.

The share of economically developed countries is now characterized by urbanization “in depth”: intensive suburbanization, the formation and spread of urban agglomerations and metropolises. The concentration of the transport industry has worsened the economic conditions of life in large cities. In many areas, the population is now growing faster in small towns on the outskirts than in metropolitan centers. Often the largest cities, especially cities with millionaires, lose population due to its migration to the suburbs, satellite cities, and in some places to the countryside, where it brings an urban lifestyle. The urban population of industrialized countries is now practically stagnant.

In the modern world, one of the most important global phenomena is urbanization. This article describes what this term means and what level of urbanization in Foreign Europe.

General information

Before talking about the urbanization of Foreign Europe, it is necessary to understand what is meant by each of these two concepts. Urbanization refers to the increase in the number of cities. This process is accompanied by a high growth rate of urban population in the region, country, and world, and accordingly, an increase in the importance of cities in economic, political and cultural terms. Foreign Europe includes 40 countries located in the European part of the huge continent - Eurasia.

Common features

IN modern society The urbanization process has the following features:

• Significant increase in the number of urban residents;
• Increasing number of urban residents in big cities;
• Expansion of the territory of large cities, their “sprawling”.

Rice. 1. Large and small cities on the map of Europe

Urban population growth

Throughout history, cities have always played a leading role in the life of society and its development. However, starting from the 19th century, the number of urban residents increased markedly. At the beginning of the last century, this trend intensified, and after the end of World War II, the era of a real “urban revolution” began. The number of residents in cities is increasing not only due to the migration of the rural population, but also as a result of the administrative transformation of rural settlements into urban ones.

Urbanization of the countries of Foreign Europe is at one of the highest levels in the world. On average, about 75% of the European population is urban. The following table shows statistical data on the share of urban residents in the total population of each individual country in Foreign Europe.

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IN Western Europe the highest rate of urbanization, while in Eastern Europe the picture is exactly the opposite: this level varies from 40% to 60%. This is due, first of all, to the socio-economic development of countries: Western European countries are classified as developed, and Eastern European countries are classified as states with low per capita income.

Rice. 2 Paris agglomeration on the map

Big cities and their "sprawl"

At the beginning of the 20th century there were not so many large cities in the world - only 360. But by the end their number had increased significantly - 2500. Today this number is close to 4 thousand. It is worth noting that if previously cities with over 100 thousand inhabitants were classified as large, today research revolves mainly around millionaire cities with a population of over one million. There are many such cities in Europe. Among them it is worth noting London (over 8 million), Berlin (over 3 million), Madrid (over 3 million), Rome (over 2 million) and others.

This trend became possible due to the development of scientific and technological progress, the increasing role of science in the development of production, the increase in the general level of education, and the development of the non-production sphere.

Distinctive feature modern process urbanization is the “sprawling” of large cities - the expansion of their already considerable territory. In other words, large industrial centers, port cities, capitals go beyond their borders, growing into something more - an urban agglomeration.

But this is not the limit: many agglomerations are united into megacities. In foreign Europe, the largest metropolitan agglomerations are Paris and London. In addition, there are such large industrial agglomerations as Gdansk-Gdynia (Poland), Rhine-Ruhr (France), South Yorkshire (England) and others.

European urbanization has its own distinctive features. Among them are suburbanization (the settlement of city residents in the suburbs), deurbanization (the outflow of city dwellers to rural settlements) and ruralization (the spread of urban norms and lifestyles in rural areas).

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Despite the presence of common features of urbanization as a worldwide process, in different countries and regions it has its own characteristics, which, first of all, is reflected in different levels and rates of urbanization. Based on the level of urbanization, all countries of the world can be divided into C large groups. But major differences can be observed between more and less developed countries. In the early 90s, the average urbanization rate in developed countries was 72%, and in developing countries - 33%.

Conditional levels of urbanization:

Low level of urbanization - less than 20%;

The average level of urbanization is from 20% to 50%;

High level of urbanization - from 50% to 72%;

Very high level of urbanization - more than 72%.

Weakly urbanized countries are Western and Eastern Africa, Madagascar and some Asian countries.

Moderately urbanized countries - Bolivia, Africa, Asia.

Highly urbanized countries - Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, South America, CIS countries.

The pace of urbanization largely depends on its level. In most economically developed countries that have reached a high level of urbanization, the share of the urban population has recently been growing relatively slowly, and the number of residents in capitals and other largest cities, as a rule, is even decreasing. Many city dwellers now prefer to live not in the centers of large cities, but in suburban areas and rural areas. But urbanization continues to develop in depth, acquiring new forms. In developing countries, where the level of urbanization is much lower, urbanization continues to expand and the urban population increases rapidly. Now they account for more than 4/5 of the total annual increase in the number of urban residents, and the absolute number of city dwellers has already far exceeded their number in economically developed countries. This phenomenon, scientifically called the urban explosion, has become one of the most important factors in the entire socio-economic development of developing countries. However, urban population growth in these regions far outpaces their actual development. It occurs largely due to the constant “pushing” of the excess rural population into cities, especially large ones. At the same time, the poor population usually settles on the outskirts of large cities, where belts of poverty arise.

Complete, as they sometimes say, “slum urbanization” has assumed very large proportions. This is why a number of international documents speak of an urbanization crisis in developing countries. But it continues to remain largely spontaneous and disordered.

Economically developed countries are now characterized by urbanization “in depth”: intensive suburbanization, formation and spread of urban agglomerations and megacities.

In economically developed countries, on the contrary, great efforts are beginning to regulate and manage the urbanization process. In this work, which is often carried out by trial and error, along with government agencies Architects, demographers, geographers, economists, sociologists, and representatives of many other sciences participate.

Almost all of the world's population problems are more closely intertwined than ever in the process of global urbanization. They appear in their most concentrated form in cities. Population and production are also concentrated there, very often to the extreme. Urbanization is a complex, diverse process that affects all aspects of world life. Let us note only some of the features of world urbanization on the threshold of the third millennium. Urbanization still continues at a rapid pace in various forms in countries at different levels of development. Under different conditions in each country, urbanization occurs both in breadth and depth, at varying speeds.

The annual growth rate of urban residents is almost twice as high as the global population growth rate as a whole. In 1950, 28% of the world's population lived in cities, in 1997 - 45%. Cities of different ranks, significance and size in which suburbs, agglomerations, and even larger urbanized zones are rapidly growing, practically cover the bulk of humanity with their influence. The most important role is played by large cities, especially millionaire cities. The latter numbered 116 in 1950, and 230 in 1996. The urban lifestyle of the population and urban culture are increasingly spreading in rural areas in most countries of the world. In developing countries, urbanization is mainly expanding as a result of the massive influx of migrants from rural areas and small towns to large cities. According to the UN, in 1995 the share of the urban population in developing countries as a whole was 38%, including 22% in the least developed countries. For Africa this figure was 34%, for Asia - 35%. But in Latin America, city dwellers now make up the majority of the population - 74%, including in Venezuela - 93%, in Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Colombia and Peru - from 70% to 80% etc. Only in some least developed countries (Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras) and in the small island countries of the Caribbean, less than half are urban residents - from 35% to 47%.

A very large proportion of city dwellers is also typical for the most developed countries in the far west of Asia: Israel (91%), Lebanon (87%), Turkey (69%).

In industrialized countries, urbanization in breadth has long since exhausted itself. In the 21st century, most of them are almost entirely urbanized. In Europe, city dwellers make up an average of 74% of the population, including in Western - 81%, in some countries - even more: in Belgium - 97%, the Netherlands and Great Britain - 90%, in Germany - 87%, although in some countries city dwellers noticeably less: in Austria, for example, 56%, in Switzerland - 61%. High urbanization in Northern Europe: an average of 73%, as well as in Denmark and Norway - 70%. It is noticeably less in Southern and Eastern Europe, but, of course, with other indicators of urbanization, it is higher than in developing countries. In the USA and Canada, the share of the urban population reaches 80%.

The concentration of the transport industry has worsened economic conditions life in big cities. In many areas, the population is now growing faster in small towns on the outskirts than in metropolitan centers. Often the largest cities, especially millionaire cities, lose population due to its migration to the suburbs, satellite cities, and in some places to the countryside, where it brings an urban lifestyle. The urban population of industrialized countries is now practically stagnant.